CHICAGO — ''There's a mythology about black professional women that we have all the hiring advantages because we're 'two-fers,' '' said Johnetta B. Cole, president of Spelman College in Atlanta. ''But the truth is we suffer from double jeopardy, victimized in our careers because of both our race and gender.''

When Cole, who has a doctorate in anthropology, talks about 'two-fers,' she refers to a negative stereotype.

It suggests black women are being hired in great numbers for the best jobs, preferred over other applicants and promoted rapidly not because of their qualifications but because they fill two affirmative-action categories: race and gender.

But according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, only 2 percent of all managers in 1988 were black women. Three percent were black men, 23 percent were white women and 72 percent were white men.

''If it's true that black professional women are favored, then I want to know why a study by the University of California at Los Angeles shows that white males hold 95 percent of the top jobs in the largest companies,'' said Cole, who was honored recently by the Women's Research and Education Institute for promoting job equality for women. ''It's time to put this mythology to rest.''

Natalie J. Sokoloff, sociology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, is trying to do just that. Her research on black professional women shows that the numbers belie the stereotype.

''Between 1960 and 1980, black women made progress in the professions, and it's important to remember that,'' said Sokoloff, who studied U.S. Census data, ''but the tragedy is the numbers are so small that what tends to get emphasized is the rate of increase. Their high rate of increase exists only because of their outrageously low starting point.''

For instance, the professor says, the number of black women attorneys increased to 4,000 in 1980 from 440 in 1970. ''That's a 10-fold increase,'' she said, ''but black women still make up less than 1 percent of all lawyers. In no way are they challenging the dominant group of white male attorneys. In fact, white men have increased their advantages in the elite professions such as medicine, law and higher education.''

From 1960 to 1980, Sokoloff says black women gained fewer than 10,000 jobs in the top professions, while white men gained more than 500,000.

In 1960, she says, there were 4.2 million white men in all professional jobs, 106,000 black men, 2.5 million white women and 180,000 black women. By 1980, there were 7.8 million white men, 419,000 black men, 6.3 million white women and 718,000 black women.

''It's apparent that black men don't do well, either, while white men do remarkably well,'' Sokoloff said. ''The issue is why white men have so much higher incomes than everyone else.''

Not only are black women ''doubly disadvantaged,'' she said, they also are being resegregated into professions such as secretary, nurse, teacher and social worker - traditional female jobs.

To remedy the ''double burden,'' Sokoloff said, ''there must be enforcement of affirmative action laws and implementation of pay equity. Racism and sexism are alive and well. We need to face that fact and continue to struggle against it. My data do not show that professional black women have better access to the top jobs.''

When Sharon Gist Gilliam, a highly respected financial officer and former Chicago budget director, decided to leave her city post, everyone wondered which lucky private corporation would snap her up. But despite Gilliam's 20 years of experience, she had few offers from the corporate world.

''It's clearly not a double advantage to be black and female,'' said Gilliam, who has a degree in history from Mundelein College and has done graduate work in health-care administration. ''Black women are only able to get to lower and middle management. Beyond that, the glass ceiling is right there.''

Meanwhile, Spelman's president is optimistic. ''Black women still have double jeopardy, but we also have the ability to see things from both perspectives,'' Cole said. ''That gives us the potential to be extraordinary visionaries.''